https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/20230517-News-Update.mp3 In this newscast: AKPM’s Eric Stone reports on the dozens of bills passed as lawmakers concluded their work this legislative session. Injured commercial fishermen and boat owners in Alaska will now be able to access higher insurance reimbursements, thanks to a senate bill pa…

A raven sits on the roof of the Foodland grocery store on Thursday, May 16 2024. (Photo by Anna Canny/KTOO)https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/16CJravens-new.wav Marc Wheeler lives in downtown Juneau, close to the Foodland grocery store. He often stops there for lunch. That’s when he sees the parking lot’s resident ravens. “I’ll be li…

https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/20230516-News-Update.mp3 In this newscast: An affordable housing project built specifically for people in recovery from substance misuse received funding support from the Juneau Assembly this week. KTOO reporter Anna Canny sought out where ravens roost in Juneau in this week’s Curious Juneau episode…

https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/20240515-News-Update.mp3 In this newscast: Ketchikan community members are pushing back against the planned construction of a market downtown which would feature two totem poles made by a non-Native Minnesota artist with a checkered past, A look at what’s planned for this years Little Norway Festiva…

https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/20240514-News-Update.mp3 In this newscast: The Juneau Assembly approved the school district’s more than $85 million budget for next school year last night, Budget negotiators in the Alaska Legislature have settled on the amount of this year’s Permanent Fund dividend and energy relief check, Since st…

https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/20240513-News-Update.mp3 In this newscast: Alaska lawmakers passed a bill last week that adds several Indigenous languages to Alaska’s official list of languages, One People Canoe Society visited Wrangell in early spring to teach residents how to make traditional Lingít paddles. This class was the …

https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/20240510-News-Update.mp3 In this newscast: A new study reveals that snow slides are a leading cause of death for mountain goats, Should Southeast Alaska have a hatchery-only king salmon sports fishery? Researchers recently tried to answer that question as a possible solution to a declining number of…

https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/20240509-News-Update.mp3 In this newscast: Alaskans who sued the state last year over long wait times for food assistance are asking a federal judge to order the state to speed up processing, but the state says the situation has improved dramatically, Transboundary gold mines are controversial becau…

https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/20240508-News-Update.mp3 In this newscast: The Juneau Assembly wants the city to ask community organizations if they’d be interested in continuing to care for graveyards on Douglas — with potential funding, An audio postcard from this years MMIP Awareness Day in Bethel…

https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/20240507-News-Update.mp3 In this newscast: Juneau’s annual workshop on How to Run for Local Office is this Saturday, and October’s municipal election is already shaping up to be an interesting one, A proposal headed to the Alaska Board of Fisheries next year would change how a popular run of king sa…

https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/20240506.mp3 In this newscast: Juneau residents had some close encounters with a curious killer whale. Sitka’s “Indian Village” was recognized as one of 11 endangered historic places in the U.S. Organizers are hoping that attention will inspire efforts to conserve and rebuild a cultural hub.…

The De Hart’s gas station in Auke Bay charged $3.49 per gallon on Feb. 15, 2024. (Katie Anastas/KTOO)https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/12CJgas.mp3 On a sunny Saturday at the Fisherman’s Bend gas station back in February, Juneau resident Joyce Sepel was filling up her tank. She said the Auke Bay gas station is her favorite. “I’ve bee…

Signs tell Juneau residents where to deposit their recyclables at the city Recycling Center in Lemon Creek. (Photo by Adelyn Baxter/KTOO)https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/05CJRecycling.mp3 Editor’s Note: After we finished this story, a power outage forced the city’s recycling center to close for repairs. The city’s public works depa…

Makenzie O’Halloran makes a sandwich at Subway in the Mendenhall Valley on Tuesday, March 12, 2024. (Clarise Larson/KTOO)https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/CJfastcurious3.wav Fast-food restaurants have come and gone from Juneau for decades — but very few stick around for long. Beyond Subway, McDonald’s, Domino’s, Papa John’s and Papa…

The Salvation Army Family Store on a busy Saturday donation day in February 2024 (Photo by Anna Canny/KTOO)https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/26cjthrift.wav Dick Wood wrestled white garbage bags and cardboard boxes from the backseat of his beat up red car. There were children’s books, toys and clothes that once belonged to Wood’s son…

Snow dusts trees on a mountain in Juneau on Nov. 30, 2023. (Katie Anastas/KTOO)https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/CJnames_lede.mps_.mp3 Anywhere you go in Juneau, there are mountains shooting up…

Alaska’s Capitol has a ground floor and a first floor. It’s relatively uncommon in American buildings. (Katie Anastas/KTOO)https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/24capitol.wav When Americans walk into a multi-story building, they’d usually say they’re on the first floor. Not in the lobby of Alaska’s Capitol building. “It has a very Europ…

A jumble of fallen trees at Auke Nu Cove caught the attention of a Curious Juneau listener (Photo by Anna Canny/KTOO) https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/26microbursts.wav If you look across Auke Nu Cove from the parking lot at the Juneau ferry terminal, there’s a strange patch of fallen trees — about a dozen — that are splayed out in…

A Coast Guardsmen working on the recovery of the 81-year-old tugboat Tagish, which sank just south of Juneau’s cruise ship docks in December, 2022. (Courtesy of Coast Guard Sector Juneau)https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/29CoastGuard_adjusted.mp3 At a Coast Guard change-of-command ceremony on Thursday, about 30 active-duty Coast Gua…

A sign at the airport tells drivers to go no faster than 19 1/2 mph. (Katie Anastas/KTOO)https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/05sign.wav On a rainy afternoon at the Airport Dike Trail, Laura Minne is walking her dog, Bodhi. Over on the airport side of the fence, a speed limit sign tells drivers to go no faster than 19 ½ miles per hour.…

Charles McKenry poses in front of the menu at Juneau’s downtown Taco Bell in 1999. (Photo courtesy of Charles McKenry)https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/03TacoBell.mp3 In the late ’90s, Juneau had two Taco Bells. But by the early 2000s, they were both gone. Juneau has a history of fast food franchises coming and going, but the disapp…

A street light near the Juneau Public Library glows purple on Sunday, Jan. 23, 2022. (Photo by Bridget Dowd/KTOO)https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/24PurpleLights.mp3 On a foggy Sunday night in Juneau, the corner of Ferry Way and Marine Way is made eerie by a violet glow coming from a nearby street light. It’s just one of several lig…

A Maloja Snake or naagáas’ cloud formation over downtown Juneau at dawn on Aug. 26, 2021. (Image captured from SnowCloud Services webcam) In the 2014 film “Clouds of Sils Maria,” the climax of the story features a scene in the Swiss Alps where the two lead actresses, Kristen Stewart and Juliette Binoche, hike up high in the mountains to witness an …

The 1958-1959 girls’ high school rifle club poses for a yearbook photo in the basement of Harborview. (Courtesy of Karleen Grummett) As part of KTOO’s Curious Juneau project, a listener asked: “Was there really a gun range in the basement of Harborview Elementary School?” The short answer is yes. It was there for decades, and there are plenty of pe…

https://media.ktoo.org/2019/05/28GOLDDREDGE-CJ-NPR1.mp3 It’s after work, and the summer sun and the tide are out at John Wright’s go-to fishing spot in Juneau: the wide, sandy beach where Sheep Creek meets Gastineau Channel. “I’ve been fly fishing in Alaska — Juneau specifically — for seven years. I’ve been fly fishing for 20 years. I’m 32, so that…

Even in the middle of the workday on Tuesday, there’s steady traffic at Costco in Juneau. The city assessor’s records put its total square footage at 76,696. (Photo by Jeremy Hsieh/KTOO)https://media.ktoo.org/2019/03/28COSTCO-CJ.mp3 The other day, Phil Fleming was loading up a car in the parking lot of the Costco in Juneau. He said a salty version …

The alder trees — and the peace sign among them — at the end of Commercial Boulevard in Juneau are about 10 years old, pictured here on Jan. 8, 2019. The Juneau Urban Forestry Partnership and local chapter of Veterans for Peace got an OK from a Juneau Assembly committee on Monday to prune the overgrowth and plant spruce seedlings in the peace sign’…

Norah Jones performs on tour in 2010 promoting her album “The Fall.” (Creative Commons photo cropped from original by youngrobv) Juneau mom Mara Jennings said she was over the moon when she found out Norah Jones was playing a concert in Juneau. Over the years, she’s sung the nine-time Grammy Award winner’s songs like lullabies to her kids at night.…

The alder trees — and the peace sign among them — at the end of Commercial Boulevard in Juneau are about 10 years old, pictured here on Jan. 8, 2019. The slope was cut and stabilized as part of the construction of the Home Depot. (Photo by Jeremy Hsieh/KTOO) https://media.ktoo.org/2019/01/11PEACE.mp3 Have your own Curious Juneau question? Submit it…

Have your own Curious Juneau question? Submit it, subscribe to Curious Juneau podcast and catch up on past curiosities on the Curious Juneau page. https://media.ktoo.org/2018/10/30CJBELLS.mp3 As recently as 2009, clock bells marked a specific location in Juneau. That year, former KTOO reporter Casey Kelly began a story like this: “As the clock chim…